What Election of Iran Reformist as President Means for the Region

Masoud Pezeshkian became Iran’s second reformist president in the history of the Islamic republic after his conservative predecessor Ebrahim Raisi was killed in a helicopter crash in May, triggering an election to replace him. While ultimate power in Iran rests with the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the president can influence policy by drawing on a base of popular support, political affiliations and links to powerful institutions. Pezeshkian campaigned on a promise to ease tensions with the West that have escalated recently as Iran mobilized a regional network of proxy militias to target Israel in response to its military offensive in Gaza.

The 69-year-old lawmaker is a heart surgeon and former health minister who served under the previous reformist president, Mohammad Khatami. In the election campaign, he advocated for the revival of a 2015 deal with world powers in which Iran agreed to limitations on its nuclear enrichment program in exchange for a lifting of related economic sanctions. The deal broke down after the US, under then-President Donald Trump, withdrew from it and reinstated sanctions in 2018.